Device for handling eggs



Jan. 19, 1954 R Q WHlTCHER ET AL 2,666,665

DEVICE FOR HANDLING EGGS Filed Sept. 8, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Wag @www By M Jan- 19, 1954 R.. s. wHlTcHER Ef AL 2,666,665

DEVICE FOR HANDLING EGGS Filed Sept. 8, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENToxzS:

ROY S. WHITCHEIL AND GEORGE 0. WYATT Patented Jan. 19, 1954 DEVICETEGR HANDLING EGGS Roy-.8.. Whiteher, Mount Clear; viava'llaraand GeorgeA 0. Wyatt, Ivanhoe,l Viotoria,=-Australia -Apildlication September 8, 1949; Serial-"-N0.1I4,'62`Z '.4`Cla'ims. (Cl. 294-87) '1.1 i This :invention relates .toa..device'-:Eor.l1and1ing eggs, 1and...is..designed. .tofenable a multiplicity .of eggs .to 4vbe .handled ortreated attire-onetime, as 'forinstanee inthe. pperationofbiling .for export,

` and other operations.

.'Eggs.. received at'. a`.bulk. store.- are.. normally packed .inboxes .containing .a..number...o`f.;tiers. of what are calledffegg..llers, which .are trays divided into compartments, 'in eachV of whichlan ,egg is. supported.

' ".The egg'llers areofyaryng sizes and' construction, butawell known standard'egg" filler comprises thirty compartments, or; that istosay, supports thirty yeggs in equally spaced'japart' relationship, and, inorder that'theeggsmay'be oiled, or otherwise' treated, they mustloe removed 'from the llers.

Hitherto,y with onef known typeA ofllen'ithas been necessaryto'- remove' ea'chegg'separately therefrom, thelr eggs thereafter, in many cases, n

ption, :includeszarrim member. fori iperimetewwhich mayabeconsidererhassar*xed framefand-mhichfis .ofthe 1; general 'shape :fand dimensions 'of "ra standard .eggsbox, i transverse aba-rs :across the perimeter q and equal fnumberffitov .the .frowsnof ping. memberssecuredto and dependingztrom the saidftransversebars.and equallinnumberand disposition tov the eggs sup-ported. infsthe, ,tillen -means .toenable thedevioeV tosbefheld conveniently during the operation of handlingrthe eggsand .a .floating frameharing meansassociated there- ..with...for.. releasing.. theeggs...from. .the gripping members whenittisdesired to replace them inthe ruler.

A clear under'star'idingy of the invention may be lil - arrived 1 at from ia 'consideration4 o`f rth'effaeo'onrmarrying drawings; wherein- '.Figure lis atplan-iview of ytlfie'device;

Figure 2 is a side elevation-'showingxinidotted lines fa' llerfsand eggs 'thereinfbeingffgripped by the device;

Figure 3 is a sideaelevati'onfishowingztheveggs 4Frejecting means ybrought-cinto; Operation;

"-Fgure, 4` isza perspectiveview showing .anfeggg'ripping member, and Figure` A5::isaperspective view of ejectors and a part of theframe tofwhich they are'attached.

In carrying theinvention intofpra'ctiealaefect,

the; arrangement comprisesginigeneralgsa rimer perimeter.andtransverse bars .'thereonthe Ywhole constituting ai'fixe'd" frame; eggrgripping Ymemable frame carrying amultiplicityoffegg eiectors, equal linnumber .anddispositionto the egg-grip- .fpingz members, .thesaid 7floating Vframe being' con nected-to'the said fixed framebysystems offlevers or parallel linkage, the actuationm which operates Lor'retracts the saidV .ejectors Lvat the. desired times.

' According toethe exemplifieation .fillustrated,` .a rim: 0r :perimeter-6: 6. :is provided, fconstructed-. preferably fromfa-.strip of. stout ,metal bent to .the rectangular shape and dimensionsofwaestandard .eggbex soz-thai;,-.thefsaidfl rim or perimeter...may

taccuasatelyfbutifreely therein.v I

.Transversely .across the.. perimeter in oneK direction. there is aixed.. a. .number of vbars. yI and vto suitfaeknown type-of 1il1er,-.there= .may .Ybelsix such bars arranged in spacedapart relationship, so: thatr infacoordancewithl -.thearrangemento`f eggs i11 ,.the...illler, there,Wilhbeone.Lsuchban in registerwith each ,ron/of .eggs..when-.the.Zdevice placed..over.a ller with the.-.rim..or,.perimeter .'.coincdent Awith .-lthe peripheral-..edge .fther'edi This. relationship. of fthe.rdevcelztolther.fillerwill .beeffected whenthe devicesplaced Yi.n`;the.open

top.of...an.egglb`oxpacked .with ltiersQieggsin .the

fll'ieperimeter land barsv i. constitute.v a`'xed frame, and, .oneach transverse. bar. thereof, there arefitted egg-.gripping members, and, .in.'th'e'"eX ample: shown, 1 there .will ce ve .su'ch.y .members on. each' bar, 'iin lequally 'spaced relationship thereon.

This arrangement willy provide" .that"^an."egg gripping. member 'Will' be.located'.'immediately above.-.each egg. Aina llerwhen" thedevic'e 'ispo'si- 'tioned immediatelythereabove.

Each said egg-gripping .member comprisesal Each member 8a and 8b has its ends secured under a bracket 9 of which said brackets there is a multiplicityv arranged in predetermined spaced apart relationship on the bars 'I.

The construction of the egg-gripping members is such that each is, in effect, a loop bent back upon itself, or that is to say, the Wire intermediately of the ends is bent divergently for a distance, then convergently for a shorter distance, again bent divergently, finally converging to an apexial portion 8c which lies within the longer divergent arms, but is offset slightly in the vertical plane, as shown in Figure 3.

The arrangement provides a pair of similar wire members each having a pair of exible limbs capable of flexing independently of one another, and the egg-gripping members thus provided will firmly grip eggs of different sizes without any tendency to break the shells.

There is associated with each pair of gripping members, an ejector which is arranged therebetween and adapted to be forced downwardly at the appropriate times to eject an egg from the gripping members.

The ejectors are of course equal in number and disposition to the egg-gripping members and are all operated simultaneously.

Each ejector comprises a stud Ill to which is secured a pusher II which is preferably constructed as a concave disc of rubber or the like suitable material.

To enable all the ejectors to be operated simultaneously, they are carried on a oating inner frame comprising the end bars I2 and the transverse, composite bars I3. The construction of the composite bars is shown in Figure wherein it will be seen that each bar comprises two similar bars spot welded to one another and to the end bars I2. The composite bars are bent away from one another at the appropriate points, to provide housings i4 for the reception of the studs I0 of the ejectors.

The bars I2 are connected to the perimeter G by the systems of levers or parallel linkage which are indicated compendiously by the reference I5, and connected thereto in pivotal manner there is a common operating bar or'handle IB which is in the form of a yoke.

Bars I'I and I8 are Xedly secured to opposite sides of the perimeter Ei and extend convergently r upwardly, the said bars coming together some distance above the perimeter, where they are joined together, one of them being extended to form the loop or hook I9.

In use the device is placed over a filler containing eggs, and, when properly valigned therewith, presseddown over the eggs so that the said pairs of gripping members each pass over and grip an eg'g. The device is then lifted away from the llers and carries with it all the eggs in the filler, at the one time, and, still retain inthe device the eggs are subjected to any required treatment,

When it is desired to replace the eggs in the ller, the device, with the eggs therein, is again aligned over the filler, and, when properly positioned, the yoke handle Vis pulled upwardly, forcing the ejectors downwardly, and ejecting the eggs from the grippers back into the compartments of the iller.

Return springs are secured between the perimeter and the floating frame so that when the yoke handle is released, the ejectors are returned to their original settings at the tops of their respective gripping members. Y

With certain types of fillers, it has been found 4 that the iiller occasionally displays a tendency to cling to the eggs and be lifted therewith, and the construction may therefore include a pusher adapted to be operated as the eggs are lifted, for the purpose of pushing the filler away,

Many arrangements will suggest themselves, and, in one construction, the pusher may comprise a vertically arranged rod having a footpiece at its lower end adapted to contact the filler, and a knob or nger piece at the upper end, whereby the rod may be forced downwardly at the appropriate time, and, if desired, the said rod may be loaded with a return spring.

We claim:

l. In a device for handling eggs, a pair of cooperating horizontal rectangular frames, each having a plurality of equally spaced transverse bars, said frames being disposed in telescoping relationship with respect to one another, a plurality of equally spaced egg-gripping members carried on the transverse bars of a iirst one of said frames, a corresponding number of eggejecting members carried on the transverse bars of the second of said frames, one of said eggejecting members being associated with each egggripping member and being disposed above an egg held by the egg-gripping member, parallel linkage operatively connecting the two frames for eiecting movement of said frames vertically relative to one another while maintaining the frames approximately parallel, and means for moving said second frame downwardly relatively to the rst to eject eggs held by the egg-gripping inembers, said last-named means comprising a level` arm pivotally connected to the said second frame and positioned for movement by the hand of the person supporting the device, a pair of links pivotally connected to said rst frame, one of said pair of links being connected to said lever, a connecting bar connecting said links and an arm connecting the other of said pair of links to said second frame.

2. In a device for handling eggs, a rst horizontal rectangular frame having a plurality of equally spaced transverse bars, a plurality of equally-spaced egg gripping units carried by said transverse bars, each of said units comprising spaced resilient gripping elements, a second horizontal rectangular frame disposed in telescoping relationship with respect to the first frame and having a plurality of equally spaced transverse bars disposed below the transverse bars of the rst frame and passing between the spaced gripping elements of the second gripping units, a plurality of egg ejecting members carried by the bars of said second frame, an egg ejecting means being disposed between the gripping elements of each egg gripping unit and being adapted to be positioned above the egg held by the'egg gripping unit, a parallel linkage connected to said frames for effecting movement of said frames vertically relative to one another while maintaining the frames parallel and in telescoping relationship, and a lever arm positioned for movement by the hand of the person supporting the device, said lever arm being pivotally connected to one of said frames and to said parallel linkage for moving said second frame downwardly relatively to the rst frame to eject eggs held by the egg gripping units.

3. A device according to claim 2, in which the transverse bars of the second frame extend crosswise of the transverse bars of the first frame,

.4. In a device for handling eggs, a first horizontal rectangular Vframe having a plurality of equally spaced transverse bars, a plurality of equally-spaced egg gripping units carried by said transverse bars, each of said units comprising a pair of spaced loops of spring wire extending downwardly from the bar on which said egg-gripping unit is mounted and having a reentrant portion to form an inner loop and a pair of outer armsbetween which the inner loop is disposed,

a second horizontal rectangular frame disposed in telescoping relationship with respect to the first frame and having `a plurality of equallyspaced transverse bars disposed below the transverse bars of the first frame and passing between the spaced gripping elements of the second vgripping units, a plurality of egg ejecting members carried by the bars of said second frame, an egg ejecting means being disposed between the gripping elements of each egg gripping unit and being ladapted to be positioned above an egg held by the egg gripping unit, a parallel linkage connected to said frames for effecting movement of said frames vertically relative to one another while maintaining the frames parallel and in telescoping relationship, and a -lever` arm posi- -CIE 6 tioned for movement by the hand of the person supporting the device and pivotally connected to said second frame, said parallel linkage comprising a pair of links pivotally connected to said first frame, one of said pair of links being connected to said lever, a connecting bar connectingsaid links, and an arm connecting the'other ci said pair of links to said second frame.

' ROY S. WHITCHER. GEORGE O. WYATT.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 879,801 Swanson Feb. 18, 1908 1,220,439 McLellan et al Mar. 27, 1917 1,500,939 Howell July 8, 1924 1,573,332 Smythe et al Feb. 16, 1926 2,334,654 Sportolari- Nov. 16,1943

FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 172,200 Switzerland Dec. 17, 1934 

